hikespeak

Rising through grassy meadows, oak woodlands, and chaparral slopes, Rinconada Trail provides North County access to the Santa Lucia Mountains in Los Padres National Forest. Gaze over bucolic valleys on the hike up to a high point in a grassy mountain pass with views over remote ridges and canyons in the Santa Lucia Wilderness. Turn around at an overlook by the crest of Rinconada Trail for a 3-mile round trip hike with 625 feet of elevation change. ...Read more.

East Cuesta Ridge Road, also known as Mount Lowe Road, is a dirt road that crosses the dominant ridgeline in the Santa Lucia Mountains northeast of San Luis Obispo. Views from the trail extend over San Luis Obispo and its surrounding peaks toward the ocean to the west at Morro Bay and to the south by Oceano Dunes. The hike starts just off Highway 101 at the top of Cuesta Grade. ...Read more.

Above Stenner Creek Road near the Cal Poly Campus, a freestyle bike course is hidden within a eucalyptus grove. The easiest route to The Eucs is to head up and back on Stenner Creek Trail. For a longer hike that explores neighboring grassland on slopes below the Santa Lucia Mountains, consider this 4.25-mile loop with 550 feet of elevation change. This hike takes Stenner Creek Trail up to the Eucs and then continues on Red Dog Trail, which sets out across grassy ridges and descends to Poly Canyon Road, a dirt road back to the beginning of Stenner Creek Trail. ...Read more.

Hi Mountain Trail is located in the Santa Lucia Mountains east of Lopez Lake. The San Luis Obispo County-run trail is quite different from the area's coastal hikes and covers a variety of environments in a short distance. Start with a nice-and-easy stream-side trail through a dense woodland. Bust up a ridge and suddenly you're in a grassy landscape with panoramic views. ...Read more.

Discover a tucked-away oasis of Sargent cypress straddling a ridge in the Santa Lucia Mountains north of San Luis Obispo. The evergreens are accompanied by coastal views that could have you imagining you're somewhere farther north in California. The hike to Cuesta Ridge Botanical Special Interest Area is 6 miles round trip up a partially paved road with 950 feet of elevation change. ...Read more.

Crafty mountain bikers have built a playground for themselves in a eucalyptus grove in the foothills of the Santa Lucia Mountains near Cal Poly. It is 1.85 miles from a trailhead on Stenner Creek Road to The Eucs, where bikers can zip down freeride trails with impressive banked turns and jumps. Hikers can enjoy the trail up Stenner Creek Canyon too, taking in views of nearby Bishop Peak and surrounding San Luis Obispo County landscapes. ...Read more.

The Poly Canyon Design Village is a hamlet of unique and varied structures built over the decades by architecture students at California Polytechnic State University. Design Village is located on a quiet grassy hillside contoured by babbling creeks shaded by coast live oaks. The village is a short distance from the Cal Poly campus and creates a pleasant and interesting destination for a 2. ...Read more.